Shawn Lamont Freeman

A woman here is charged with shooting and killing her grandchildren’s uncle during a tense custody transfer Saturday night. Police say 27-year-old Shawn Lamont Freeman went with his sister to pick up her children from their paternal grandmother, Quiarra Short, at a home in Hazelwood. Police wrote that there was tension between the two women, and Freeman was known as a “mediator type,” which is why he went to the home with his sister. His friend came with him, as well. Once there, police said, his sister began to argue with three women directly inside the residence, and Freeman tried to put himself between his sister and the others to break up the fight. During that time, police said Freeman “was passed an infant,” and his friend, who was outside, took the baby. Another child walked out of the house around that time, as well. As the fight continued, Freeman’s friend was walking away with the baby when he heard a single gunshot, he told police. He turned around and saw Freeman fall to the ground and shout, “I’m hit!” Freeman had been shot once in the chest. The friend passed the baby to another person and ran to Freeman. Police said he dragged Freeman to the car, and Freeman’s sister began to drive. But she turned around back toward the house thinking that they should wait for police to arrive, police wrote in charging documents. Freeman’s friend pulled her from the car and drove Freeman to the emergency room at Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital. Freeman was pronounced dead at 9:16 p.m. He lived in the Spanish Lake area of St. Louis County. Short was arrested at the scene and told officers she was the one who shot Freeman, police said. She told them Freeman and his sister were “being aggressive and trying to get into her house.” She was knocked into a stairwell banister, police said, which is when the woman pulled a gun and fired at Freeman. Short, who is in her 40s, is charged with second-degree murder, three counts of armed criminal action and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.